Recently, countries around the world have become more sensitive to the effects of releasing pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen dioxides, into the air. Moreover, countries are struggling to prepare for the expected depletion of the world's petroleum supply and the resulting price inflation of various fossil fuels. Because of this, there has been an increased emphasis on the development and refinement of “renewable” and alternative sources of energy. For example, the collection and conversion of naturally occurring solar and wind energy has long been pursued. Devices such as photovoltaic cells and windmills have been engineered over several decades; however, their limited maximum output often makes them prohibitively expensive. Accordingly, lesser known methods have also been developed to recapture waste energy from existing industrial processes and other collateral sources of energy.
For example, various systems and methods have been developed for recapturing energy from the motion of moving vehicles. Many of these systems have involved the use of multiple projections in the surface of the roadway. The projections are typically configured to actuate a system of linkages and gears below the surface of the roadway when a vehicle contacts and depresses the projections. For example, in some systems, a flywheel and flywheel shaft are disposed below the roadway. Mechanisms connected to the roadway projections are configured to rotate the flywheel shaft when actuated by a passing vehicle. These existing systems have several disadvantages.
First of all, existing systems require the installation of extensive combinations of mechanical gears and linkages below the roadway. Some systems even require the installation of sensitive electronics and other components below the roadway. Therefore, these systems are very difficult and expensive to install in existing roadways. They also greatly increase the cost of constructing new roadways. Moreover, because so many components are installed below the roadway, they may be easily damaged due to adverse weather, water damage, and the negative physical effects of heavy traffic. Accordingly, existing systems are extremely expensive to repair and maintain, in the event of both normal wear-and-tear and periodic component failure due to occasional, extreme impacts.
In addition, existing systems are generally energy-inefficient and insufficiently cost effective. Existing systems do not capture a significant amount of energy upon the impact of a passing vehicle, and they also suffer from other system-wide inefficiencies. The existing methods of energy conversion fail to fully exploit the potential of the captured energy to generate useful electrical energy. Thus, existing systems and methods provide relatively little energy output and therefore fail to sufficiently outweigh the costs of their installation, maintenance, and repair.
Accordingly it is a primary object of the invention to provide systems for generating substantial amounts of useful energy from the motion of passing vehicles, with the use of an off-road flywheel shaft and energy conversion box.